The challenge for week 20 in the Documented Life Project was to “Use a rubber stamp in a new way.”

Since I have very few rubber stamps (about 6) I was not sure what I would do with this challenge. Melinda and I have made our own stamps out of several different materials this past year. You can read posts about some of the stamps we have made:
Make Your Own Stamps
Print Your Own Fabric Part 1 (Craft Foam)
Print Your Own Fabric Part 2 (Moldable Stamps)
Space Pillow (Lego Stamps)

My Mom (Great Grandma) and I took the kids to see the amazing production of Jonah at the Sight and Sound Theater in Branson, MO. We loved the underwater scene with all of the jellyfish and fish “swimming” around us in the auditorium. Seeing the jellyfish brought back memories of visiting an aquarium in Hawaii. I was fascinated with a tank filled with jellyfish that glowed in the dark tank.Jellyfish became the inspiration for my challenge this week. I wanted to do something with the gelli plate and decided to make some jellyfish “stamps” to use on the plate. I drew various jellyfish shapes on a piece of parchment paper with hot glue and let them harden. I then played around with various gelli prints, laying the jellyfish shapes into the paint on the gelli plate to “stamp” the shape into the paint. (When you put any kind of stamp, stencil, shape tool, and so forth on top of the paint on the gelli plate, it removes part of the paint leaving an impression which will transfer to the paper.) Here’s a picture of the Jellyfish stamps (after getting paint on them.)I finally got a print I liked.

To complete the challenge, I decided to use part of a doily and some scrap lace to make a textile jellyfish.The center of the doily became the body of my jellyfish and I cut the scrap lace into strips for the tentacles.

Melinda will be sharing her challenge for this week at a later time. Her challenge these days is getting through the last days of pregnancy and preparing for my new grandson.

To make your own gelli plate, go here to find out how I made mine.